Banker held for alleged insider trading avoids case after deleting WhatsApp messages

Konstantin Vishnyak, a former VTB Capital Plc banker, deleted his WhatsApp messages and reportedly got away with alleged insider trading. Vishnyak was acquitted by a London jury, dealing a blow to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s pursuit of insider dealing.

Vishnyak was found not guilty after jurors deliberated for more than three hours and was promptly released by the judge, Bloomberg reported. Prosecutors at the FCA had alleged that the 42-year-old banker removed the application knowing that it might be relevant to an insider-trading investigation.

However, Vishnyak stated that he deleted the messages because he feared being dragged into a political scandal if his links with a Russian suspect in a British investigation were known. The verdict leaves the Vishnyak off the hook and the FCA empty-handed as the agency dropped the insider-trading investigation against Vishnyak and two other suspects. As per the report, it had pursued the lesser charge of deleting the texts, a first for it.

In a statement, the FCA said it was "disappointed with the outcome, but respects the verdict. We will take action whenever evidence we need is tampered with or destroyed."

Vishnyak was arrested in September 2018 by authorities suspicious about his trading in six companies that got takeover bids. He managed to delete his WhatsApp chats and the application before handing over his phone to the cops.

"You delete Whatsapp under the noses of the police. You throw the FCA off the scent in an interview," Rachel Barnes, the attorney for the agency, said during the questioning. "This is taking a risk isn't it?"

Vishnyak's attorney told the jury that the content of the messages was "far more embarrassing." The messages reportedly contained Vishnyak’s correspondence with Andrei Lugovoi, a politician who is wanted by British cops for the poisoning of former Russian security officer Alexander Litvinenko, who was given a fatal dose of radioactive polonium in his tea in a London restaurant in 2006.

"British juries do not transact their business on suspicion," said Henry Milner, a lawyer for Vishnyak. "My client's case was that his deletions were private matters, nothing to do with shares or insider dealing, and the prosecution were unable to prove otherwise."

Vishynak was suspected of trading tips that he received from a ring of Moscow friends, including the best man at his wedding. Vishnyak, who by this time had left VTB, made about 3.78 million pounds ($4.83 million) trading the six stocks in question, the FCA said.